At River's Side
by ChezTerrebonne
Summary: She was a simple girl. She kept to herself and avoided confrontation. She stayed under the radar. Her world is about to come crashing down around her as the Brotherhood and XMen find their way into her life.


I hope you all enjoy this! I worked very hard on it. Please, review and let me know how it is! And please, point out any mistakes or errors!

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For years my people have been persecuted. We have been pushed aside and out of the way. We have never truly been accepted. All we have to show for our ancestor's hard work are dry plots of land and casinos scattered about the country. Add that on top of being a mutant and you've got an outcast, through and through.

She was the only one of her kind in the Dallas ISD. Sure, there were plenty of Native Americans, but as far as she could tell, there were no mutants. She lived alone with her aunt. The rest of her family was in Oklahoma. The moment her mother died, there was talk about her living with her aunt. She didn't actually make the move until her father was pronounced diabetic. It was nothing serious at the time, but everyone feared that he would leave her alone in the world. So, they shipped her down to Texas. By this time, she had yet to develop any mutant qualities. It wasn't until the 8th grade that something happened.

It was the same old story. She was being taunted by a group of older children in the schoolyard. She was feeling uncharacteristically emotional and out popped the mutation like a firework. It was quite literally like a firework. At the peak of her emotions, something sounding like an explosion was heard. Children fled the scene. Everyone realized who had caused the explosion. Within no time, she was expelled. Her aunt, from a safe distance, home schooled her. Everyone that knew of her secret, which were few, kept a safe distance away from her. This, of course, led her to become the soft, quiet woman she is today.

It was a cold, winter evening. She had long moved out of her aunt's house and was living in an apartment of her own in the downtown area. She worked in the art district, which was about 15 minutes from her home if you walked. There wasn't much to complain about these days. She had her secret well under wraps and made sure to keep her cool so as not to expose said secret.

She was, indeed, walking home from work that evening. It was merely a Tuesday night and rush hour was ages ago. She walked down a particularly quiet street so she could enjoy the beautiful night without any interruptions. Few cars went down this street at this time of night. Also, it was known to be a safe street. Very little happened here.  
The only odd thing was the fancy black car driving at a particularly slow pace a few paces behind her. Though, she paid no mind to it, thinking that the driver was simply just trying to find his or her way. She debated whether or not to ask if they needed directions. In the end, she decided that if they wanted directions, they would simply ask.  
She turned onto the street on which she lived and lightly noted that the car behind her did the same. Worried, she decided to test the car. All of a sudden, she stopped. The car stopped. She pretended like she was looking for something in her bag so that the car would not think that she was beginning to wise up to them. Staying true to her personality, she remained calm and continued on her way. As she suspected, the car followed. As she neared the entrance to her building, the car sped up ever so slightly. It pulled along side her and the driver slowly began rolling down the window.  
"Excuse me, but do you live around here?" a young man asked.  
"Yes, I live in that building," she said, pulling her hand from her coat pocket and pointed up the sidewalk.  
"Then maybe you could help me out. I'm looking for someone," he said.  
"Who are you looking for? I will try my best to help you, but I must warn you. I do not know that many people around here," she offered.  
"That's fine. Do you know a River Sa-San-? John, how do you say it?" the man turned to the person in the passenger seat.  
"Sancheen or something like that," he said, bored.  
"It is Sancheen, as in San-Sheen. Um, that is me. How can I help you?" she asked.  
"Great. We've got some stuff we need to discuss with you. Why don't you hop on the backseat and we can go for a drive?" he suggested.  
"No thank you. I have quite a lot of things to do," she lied.  
"It won't hardly take any time at all. Come, on, we've got things to discuss," he persisted.  
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't," she said and quickly began walking to her building, which was only a couple of yards away. That was when the men stepped out of the car and went after her.

She sat quietly, waiting to see what would happen to her. The two men hadn't said a word to her since they got in the car. She was trying desperately to keep her emotions balanced so that she wouldn't blow the car sky high.  
"We're almost there, so just calm down," the driver said as soon as they had left the city. By this time, it was nearly 10 at night and there were only 2 or 3 other cars on the highway.  
Five minutes up the road, they pulled off and drove down a dark, dirt road. About fifteen minutes later, the car stopped in front of a modest farmhouse. Behind it were pastures and a large barn.  
"Come on," the driver said and unlocked the doors.  
"Don't bother running," the second man said. It was then that the driver seamlessly morphed into a woman. If you could it that, that is. The woman had dark orange hair, glowing yellow eyes, and blue scales covered her body. River couldn't help but stare, mouth agape.  
The only remaining man grabbed her arm and led her inside the house with the blue woman following. He led her down a hallway and into a room. Inside the room, there was an old cellar door in the floor. The door opened on its own. The man went down the steps first, then the blue woman pushed River forward, obviously wanting her to go before she.  
River soon realized that this was no ordinary farmhouse or cellar. Her first clue was when the steps didn't end when she thought they would. They kept going. A light then clicked on. River could now see that they were at the bottom in a large, chrome room. The man led her to a large door, which opened on its own and pushed her threw it.

"Welcome, Miss Sancheen. I trust Mystique and Pyro didn't frighten you too badly," an old man greeted River from behind a metal desk. It was the only piece of furniture in the room.  
"What do you want?" River asked quietly.  
"My name is Magneto and I want you to join my cause," he explained. River said nothing in reply, obviously somewhat confused.  
"I want you to join the Brotherhood. You have talents that would come in great use, River. Do you realize just how powerful you are?" He went on. She shook her head.  
"You, my dear, are a very powerful weapon. Do you know why?" she shook her head again.  
"You are a walking bomb. You can destroy anything and everything in your path with out ever raising a finger. River, you would be a great asset to the Brotherhood and myself. Join us and you could some day rule the world," he offered.  
"I have no desire to rule the world," she muttered.  
"I'm afraid you have no choice, my dear. Either join us or suffer," he said sternly. His statement scared River. Of course, she was already scared. What he was saying pushed her fear over the edge.  
Somewhere in the house above their heads, a loud booming noise erupted. Magneto and River looked up instinctively. Another booming noise was heard, just outside the door. The room shook. Magneto stood from behind his desk and River stepped back towards the door in fear.  
"What's going on?" Magneto demanded. The space behind him then blew up, sending him flying across the room and causing River to fall to her knees. The entire edifice shook. Frantic shouts could barely be heard above the noise of ceiling tiles falling and the house above collapsing. Tears streamed down River's face as a piece of the ceiling fell upon her.

"What do you think happened here?" A teenage boy asked.  
"There must have been some sort of battle," replied a middle aged African-American woman with ghost white hair. The group of five surveyed the scene, searching for any signs of life. It seemed as if everyone that could manage escaped with their life and fled the scene.  
"I wonder why the house collapsed," asked a girl the same age as the first boy. Nobody answered her, as they were busy rummaging through the debris.  
"Hey, I think I might have found something," a woman of the same age as the first announced. The group assembled around her and looked down at the cellar door at which the woman was indicating. One of the two men of the group stepped forward and opened the door and led the group down the long set of stairs. It was hard to tell where they were going without any light and debris in the way. Finally, the stairs stopped and the group found themselves in a large underground room. Ceiling tiles and other pieces of wreckage littered the ground. They checked under piles of rubble for any poor soul that might have been caught under a falling piece of metal. Much to the group's relief, they found no bodies. They then made their way into the next room. This room was far worse off than the first. The group was shocked at the state of the room. It was painfully obvious that the worst explosion happened in this room. They walked around before they began moving rubble. Everyone was caught up in their awe of the destruction until they were pulled back into reality by the shriek of one of the teenage girls.  
"Look!" she cried. Everyone assembled around her and found out why she had cried. There was a large pile of debris, and sticking out from the pile was a dusty, bruised arm and a cut up hand. The group immediately began digging through the pile, desperately hoping that the person attached to the arm was still alive.

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Part 2 is well on its way. Look for it soon! And don't forget to review! 


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